Holding Out for a Red, White, and Blue Hero
by CoffeeAngels
Summary: An artifact is stolen and one of their agents has been taken, S.H.I.E.L.D. calls in reinforcements in hopes of saving the world. Emma Blaser, a mutant, is asked to accompany the Avengers. None of them are what she expected them to be. (Story takes place during the Avengers (movie))I DO NOT OWN ANYTHING BELONGING TO THE AVENGERS OR BELONGING TO THE X-MEN
1. Let's Begin

I couldn't say that I was excited to be on the ship of an intelligence organization. This place was swarming with special agents and soldiers, and today was the day that "top secret" personal were to board. Not to mention the size of the base, it was huge; I had gotten lost a couple of times in the last 2 days. All of it made me nervous. But I had agreed to come aboard.

And here I was in the small room they had given me, looking in the square wall mirror making sure my dark mahogany hair fell in curls that reached just below my shoulders. I lifted my bangs up with my left hand while with my right, I applied powder to my forehead. I put the brush down on the desk and looked back at my ovalish shaped face. I stood back and studied myself. My deep red boat neck sweater clung loosely to my shoulders, revealing a more prominent collarbone, and somehow flowed to my skinny jeans. Sighing, I looked down at the choice of boots I brought. It wasn't all that difficult, I had only brought a pair of black heeled boots complete with some buckles, and the rough looking brown suede, flat boots. I smiled at the brown boots; man, those boots have seen a lot with me. But I turned to the heels, sat on the twin size cot and started to put the left one on my foot when there was a knock at the door. "Emma? Are you up yet?" A man's voice called softly.

I smiled, "The door's open, Phil." The door slowly opened and there was Agent Phil Coulson in his black suit and ashen tie. His grey eyes were warm and he smiled at me as he stood in the doorway. "What do you think? Do heels make a good first impression?" I asked lifting up my foot.

"I think it depends, but I distinctly remember you wearing those when we first met and, if I do say so, I think they add a wonderful allure about you," he smiled as he sat on the bed next to me. I snorted a short laugh. I remembered when I met him.

It was little over a year ago.

The smell of espresso filled my nose while I sat at the two seated table in the corner next to a large window, which exposed the streets of Albany, New York. The small café was pretty empty except for a handful of persons, all of them on the other side of the shop. I liked this corner; it was away from the open portion of the coffee house as it was sheltered by the tall stock shelf of the store. The half-filled latté stood next to a turquoise Dell laptop on the table. This is where I often found myself during my free time. I leaned on my elbows and grabbed the cup in front of me, raised it to my lips and inhaled that wonderful aroma before I took a sip. I looked up, scanned the store slowly, and then turned my head to watch the busy life of the city outside. I fell back in my chair and sighed. _Man, I should do something today_ I thought.

I sat like that for a while, observing the people that walked by. It was only when I noticed a man in a dark suit and necktie walking towards me when I drew my attention away from the outside. He looked like he was probably in his forties judging by his thin, balding head, but otherwise tidy, quite presentable. And his build was ordinary, but gave the appearance of working out every now and then. He held a small dark briefcase that swung at his side as he continued his way. Normally, I didn't mind saying hello to stranger walking by, but I never really wanted to start a conversation. I wasn't too fond of people. But this guy, this guy just fucking sits down at my table and closes my laptop. Shock over took me. What was this guy doing?

"Miss Blaser, I'm Agent Phil Coulson. I'm here on behalf of SHIELD," his grey eyes were bright as he extended his hand. It took me a second before I reached my right hand to shake his.

"I um…I'm sorry, what?" I was so confused. I was still trying to work through what just happened. I mean, a business man sat down at my table and said my name. Wait, this means he was stalking me. How long was he following me? I was only at my apartment today. _Oh shit, does he know where I live? _ I clung to my coffee cup, unsure of how I was getting out of this.

"If you excuse me, I'd rather not start this until my partner shows up. He was right behind me, I'm not sure what's taking him so long…"he stated as he picked up my laptop and handed it to me. I looked down at it, looked at him, and back to the computer. While holding on to my cup with my left hand I took the device with my right. He offered his hand gesturing to the coffee cup. I scrunched up my face into a puzzled expression and gently handed him the cup. He took it and sat there, watching at me. "You might want to put that away in your bag" he replied to my face.

"Oh. Right, sure…" I mumbled as I reached for my backpack. While I stuffed my laptop into the bag, Agent Coulson placed the briefcase on the table. I sat back up and he handed my latté back to me. He turned to look at the door just as another man in a black jacket and what looked to me as a brown leather vest underneath entered the building. He saw us and started our way. He had black pants and black hiking boots on. He was well built, his brown hair spiked in the front, and as I might express, rather attractive. A lot younger than Phil here. As he approached our table, the man grabbed a chair and pulled it up to the middle between Phil and me.

"Miss Blaser, this is Agent Clint Barton. Also known as Hawkeye" Phil reported as the man called Hawkeye stretched his hand to me. I shook it once to greet him. "Now we can begin. As I said, we are here on business from SHIELD. Strategic Homeland Intervention Enforcement Logistics Division. We've been watching you, Miss Blaser. And I must say, we're quite impressed." _Oh shit. This is not what I wanted to do today…_

Hawkeye must have seen the concern in my face. "Don't worry. We're only here to talk. That's all."

Phil started up again, "We know all about you; who you are, what you do, what you can do. It's all here." He opened the briefcase to reveal vanilla folders. He took one out and handed it to me. I stared at it in my hand._ What kind of mess am I in_? "That one is for you. It contains information about SHIELD and what we do and why we want you to keep in contact with us."

I dropped the folder on the table and placed my latté on the ground next to my black heeled boots. "So...I'm going to stop you right there," I finally opened my mouth, "and I'm going to tell you that I'm not interested." I reached up and tugged my ponytail tighter, brushed part of my bangs to the side and then crossed my arms against my body.

Phil smiled and pulled out another folder from the case. He laid it open in front of me. There was a picture of a beautiful mansion paper clipped at the top of the page. "We know all about this place and what kind of people live here. We know that you lived here for the last 3 years and that you still frequently visit."

I was fidgeting with my hands in my lap. "Oh balls…" I managed to exhale out. I was worried. I was scared. I jumped suddenly when something touched my hands. I looked down and saw Hawkeye's hand on mine. His expression was so genuine and comforting.

"Like I said, we're here to talk" he soothed. I actually felt myself relax from his touch.

Phil cleared his throat and continued, "This is an institute that is referred to the X-mansion located just out of Salem, New York, but you already know that. I

should tell you that we are in alliance with the residents. I am a little surprised to find out that you don't know that. After all, you are one of the X-Men, am I correct?"

My eyes widened as I tried to comprehend what he was trying to say. How did he know? How long have they been watching me? …Why hadn't the X-Men informed me about this? Phil went back into his briefcase and took out another folder. I noticed the tab on the side had a single word written: VAPOR. _Oh balls… _I stiffened as Phil opened the folder and placed it on top of the one in front of me. This packet also had a picture, but it was of a woman in her early twenties, wearing a black pea coat. It was a side view but her head was turned towards the camera, her arm raised pulling back her dark, mahogany wavy hair. Her mouth was opened slightly and her expression worried, the anxiety in her green eyes seemed to be enhanced by the brown eye shadow which engulfed the top of her eyelids. "Where did you take this?" I asked nervously as I tightened my left arm around my waist and my right hand started playing with the white silk scarf around my neck. It was a dumb question as I remembered that specific day. I kept my stare focused on the woman, well, at myself, in the picture. But Agent Coulson tilted his head slightly and stared at me; he knew that I already knew when that was.

Hawkeye spoke up "You have an extraordinary talent, Emma. We're here to offer you protection, more than you think. You know, keep other "agencies" from trying to find you. I know the X-Men is doing their best, but we can do more. All that we're asking in return is a little help from you." I turned my head to him and lightly nodded. He inhaled and continued to say "Even though we have a lot of information on you, we don't know everything. I'm not saying we want every detail, but what would help is if you told us about yourself; what you can do with your talents and if there's anything you need to help you grow." He glanced around the shop and out the window before turning back to me. "So, what can you do?"

I hesitated for a minute. Was I really just going to lay everything on these two strangers? This thing was pretty intense, even for me, to completely accept what I could do. I only first got a grip on my condition about a year ago. Since then, I managed to develop my abilities more, and was still working on it. My eyes connected with Hawkeye's light blue ones, then moved to the soothing gaze of Phil's. I felt at ease. For whatever reason, I knew I could trust them. I was comfortable with these two, even if I only met them barely five minutes ago. _Just do it, they're here for a reason. Besides, if they wanted to harm you they would have done it by now. _I took in a deep breath. "Alright then…" So I told them the gif of it all.

I was a mutant. A part of the famous X-Men, actually. I had come to the institution about 2 years ago and my mutant powers started up 3 years ago. I "ran away from home" and moved to New York, in which I mean I moved without telling anybody. I was almost 21 so I figured I was in the clear for anything. I had accidently run into the X-Men. I never even knew there was a school for mutants. I just always wanted to live in New York, so that's where I headed. When I moved into the mansion and was introduced to many of the residents, I started to train with them. Eventually, I was given the code name Vapor and was offered to join the official X-Men; I gladly accepted the position. As for my mutant abilities, I'm able to produce and manipulate anything water. I can turn my whole body to water or someone else's. I'm able to produce high powered streams from my arms, or create a few droplets in the palm of my hand. I have the ability of super healing; a scrape will disappear in a few seconds. Over the last few years I've been working on honing this and now am able to help heal others who are wounded. Every day I work on focusing my powers and growing them and what I can do. It hasn't been easy, but I've made a lot of progress.

There was more to my story, but I figured that's all they needed to hear. Phil smiled at me and Hawkeye took another scope around the café, bent over a little and in a slight whisper asked me, "Could you show us something? It doesn't have to be anything big or anything, but like, just something?" He leaned on his elbow while giving me a sheepish look. I smirked at him. He was so excited to see me do something. I leaned in and placed my hand on the table.

"Here, watch my hand," I told him. Hawkeye moved his sight to where my hand rested and I slowly concentrated on turning my fingers into their watery form. To add to the effect, I started a small puddle underneath them. Hawkeye's mouth gaped in awe. I let my hand form back to normal but the puddle stayed on the table.

"That was so cool!" Hawkeye exclaimed in his astonishment. "So you can keep your form while in your water-state-thingy?" I nodded in agreement. He looked eager to ask a million more questions, but all he replied was "Sweet." I grinned at him, just happy that he was glad to witness my freak side.

Phil just looked at him amused and returned a warm smile at me. "I see we have much to talk about, Miss Blaser."


	2. The Bridge

I closed the door gently behind me and looked at Phil. I gave him a forced enthusiastic smile, complete by raising both shoulders to show that I was trying to be excited. The thin haired man smirked at me and I let my shoulders slump back to rest. "Nervous?" he asked as we started walking down the hall.

"For what? Meeting your childhood hero, the love of your life?" I teased. "Why would I be nervous? I mean, you only showed me all of your trading cards, pictures, the videos, and gave me a more than detailed profile of him. If anything, I'm dreading being introduced to him" I couldn't help but laugh and so did he. I was awful at keeping a straight face when I was joking and if anyone knew that better, it was Phil.

Phil and I had become friends over the last year. We often met for lunch at least once a month and kept contact through phone or e-mail otherwise. He would tell me about his various missions and talk of the people he met, even if he technically wasn't allowed to. Clint Barton had also become a close brother-like figure to me. He would stop by my place or work, or really anywhere for that matter, unannounced and expect me to drop everything so we could get some ice cream. He would help train me for combat and even gave me a few pointers at shooting a bow. Clint introduced me to Agent Natasha Romanoff, his dear partner, who would also help with training. Nat cared for me too, even if it didn't seem like it. I knew she would have my back if I asked her to and I had hers. She rarely showed her emotions; she was good at hiding them. In fact, I think she hid them so well she would hide them from herself. But I've been around her long enough to know that Clint missing was killing her.

Clint was gone, taken, and this was partially the reason why I was on this ship. A couple of days ago at one of SHIELD's bases, a man named Loki showed up and before the base was destroyed, he took Clint, a few other agents, and this item called the Tesseract. From what Phil told me, the Tesseract is a cube of self-sustaining energy SHIELD was studying, trying to unlock its power; for what, he never said. But from what scientists did find was that it emitted gamma radiation. So naturally, SHIELD wanted to bring in an expert on gamma radiation in hopes of tracking the cube.

I was briefed on this specialist. His name is Bruce Banner (I had recognized the name from somewhere and eventually remembered that my actual brainiac brother studied the doctor's work religiously). I was ready to be impressed but I wasn't prepared for what the video showed; a huge green man with bulging muscles was destroying military aircrafts and flinging vehicles around like they were children's toys, heavily armed soldiers being tossed aside with the mere flick of its hand, and bullets bouncing off the creature's skin. I couldn't tell how or why everything seemed to explode, but none of it actually hurt the green beast. If anything, it enraged him, guessing his deafening roars. Next to the running video on the screen was a picture of Doctor Banner; a gentle looking man with short, shaggy black hair and fear in his brown eyes. I had a hard time believing he meant to harm anybody. But he was the actual reason for me being on SHIELD's home base. I was here to contain him if he turned into the monster.

Phil and I continued our way through the base, passing various persons along the way. I couldn't deny it, I was anxious. Not only was I going to be introduced to the Incredible Hulk (aka Bruce Banner), one of the brightest minds alive, but also to Phil's favorite person in the world, Captain America. I thought I knew all about him, thanks to Phil's obsession with the guy. The Captain became a super soldier during a science experiment in the 40s. He fought against a secret Nazis agency and was then frozen for the last 70 years. He didn't seem like that big of a deal to me, but Phil made him sound like he was the hottest thing since toast. Captain America had experience with the Tesseract, so he was called in on this mission as well.

We were nearing the bridge when Phil stopped and turned to me. With my 2 inch heels on, I was at eye level with Phil (I was 5'7"). "Relax and be you. You'll do great" he reassured me. I gave a short smile and tugged on my sleeves. Phil softly grabbed my arms and looked me in the eyes, "You don't have to be around them if you don't want to. They'll be busy working anyway, you probably won't even notice they're here."

I grinned at him. "Whatever you say, Phil," I mused. "Alright, let's do this…" and we continued down the corridor.

As we were reaching the bridge, I could hear Director Fury's booming voice as he conversed with someone, "Doctor, thank you for coming."

A gentler male's voice replied "Thanks for asking nicely. So, um, how long am I staying?" Phil and I were in the doorway and I could see the voice belonged to a decent sized guy wearing a greyish brown suit. He had thick, dark hair; it was short and tidy. He turned slightly and I saw that his undershirt was a deep purple. Immediately, I knew it was Bruce Banner. A wave of disbelief swept over me. Dr. Banner was insecure; his arms were crossed, body slightly hunched over, and he seemed afraid to touch anything. How was anybody scared of this man? I felt like I had to protect _him_ from everyone else, not the other way around.

Honestly, the dark, bald man with an eye patch over his left eye and sporting a long black trench coat frightened me. Director Nick Fury was that kind of man, demanding and intimidating, and by standing in the same room as him made me want to confess all the wrong I've done, curl up in a ball and cry.

Fury answered Banner, "Once we get our hands on the Tesseract, you're in the wind."

"Where are you with that?" he walked nervously towards the railing, overlooking the massive room. I have such a hard time describing this place, it was just too incredible. There are top notch computers everywhere with a SHIELD agent almost at every one working on something. I loved the front of the room because it was essentially a giant window wall that looked out to the sky.

"We're sweeping every accessible wireless camera on the planet. Cell phones, laptops…if it's connected to a satellite, it's eyes and ears for us" Phil stepped up. Doctor Banner turned to Phil, then casted his eyes to me. I gave a weak smile as I walked up to the long table the two men were standing at.

"Doctor, I believe you've met Agent Coulson." Fury announced and Banner nodded. Pointing his arm towards me, he continued "This is Emma Blaser. Miss Blaser, this is Doctor Bruce Banner."

"It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm, um, a little embarrassed to say this but I'm pretty sure my brother has your publishing's memorized" I chuckled nervously and held out my hand to him. He looked at my hand before taking it in his.

"Well, I wish I could say something about you but meeting you is a surprise for me," he replied while glancing at Fury.

"Miss Blaser," Director Fury went on," this is Captain Steve Rogers." I looked over Doctor Banner's shoulder and saw a handsome, tall, broad shouldered man walking towards us. His blonde hair was swept to the left on the top of his head. He was wearing a brown leather jacket and dark khakis. He looked like he came straight out of a vintage photograph. He was now at Banner's side. He was much taller than I thought he was. I noticed he had beautiful, kind blue eyes. His face was so…young. The profile and ridiculous trading cards Phil owned were so different compared to the gorgeous man in front of me.

"Ma'am" Steve nodded, extending his hand to me. My breath caught for a second as I took his hand. His grip was strong but gentle. My hand seemed so tiny in his sculpted one. I think my heart stopped beating.

"Hi…"I finally managed to breathe out as I stared into his eyes. He gaped right back into mine with his bright ones. His gaze was so sweet and innocent. I felt so…calm. I had no idea what was happening but it felt like we stayed like that for hours. Fury cleared his throat and Steve dropped my hand and reached up to grab the back of his neck, looking a bit embarrassed. I felt myself beginning to blush and I clutched my upper left arm, looking back to the Director. He sneered at me.

Fury spoke up "Miss Blaser is here temporarily and is ordered not to do anything other than to supervise any strenuous up doings that may arise during your stay. She is here only as a precautionary measure." He said that last line while peeping at Banner. I took an interest in the floor, turning my head from the two men next to me. Clearly, this was the first that either of them have heard of me. The doctor watched Fury as he said this, crossed his arms and tensed up as he realized what the Director meant.

"So you're telling me that she's here to babysit me." Banner accused. I closed my eyes and bit my lip._ Oh boy…_. "Is she another agent? No offense, but I don't think she's going to be able to do anything to stop the other guy if he does make an appearance."

"Doctor Banner, please. I don't mean to pose a threat to you," I pleaded. He looked at me with skepticism in his face. I really did mean it. I hoped my sympathetic expression showed it.

"She may not look like it, Doctor, but she can take down a whole army just by raising her hands" praised Fury. _Holy balls, was he saying that he trusted me? Does he actually hold that much confidence in my abilities?_ I stood up straighter and clasped my hands behind my back. Banner didn't look that convinced as he eyed me up and down. "Trust me, there's more to her than what you see. Like I said, she's here as a safety measure. If you want to view her as your babysitter, that's up to you. But I suggest you two get comfortable together. She can do more damage to you than you can do to her."

I'm sure I could damage him, but it didn't mean I want to. I gave a sheepish shrug to Banner in which he returned with a more than dubious expression. But I saw his shoulders relax a bit which made me feel much better. I moved my gaze up to see Steve's puzzled face as he quickly turned to Fury. "Now, what Agent Coulson was saying-"

I noticed Natasha crouching next to a computer screen, swiping through it. She looked over at us with a sad expression and simply said "It's still not going to find him in time." She glanced quickly at the screen before she stood up. I saw the computer had Clint's profile on it. Now I worried and hugged myself.

Banner watched Natasha for a second. "A familiar feel. How many spectrometers do you have access to?" he asked Fury.

Director Fury crossed his arms, leaned back on the railing, and asked "How many are there?"

"Call every lab you know." Banner stated, pulling off his jacket. "Tell them to put the spectrometers on the roof and calibrate them for gamma rays. I'll rough out a tracking algorithm, basic cluster recognition. At least we could rule out a few places." Fury nodded at him. "You have somewhere for me to work?"

Fury looked over at Natasha, "Agent Romanoff, can you show Dr. Banner to his laboratory, please.

Natasha started towards us, her short, red hair bouncing with each step in her black combat boots, red tank top and black leather jacket. "You're going to love it, Doc. We got all the toys." She shot me a small smile as she passed. She and Banner left down the hallway to his new room.

Phil was next to me now, "See? That couldn't have gone better."

"Oh, right. That was just super" I muttered as I scratched my head. He smiled and I lightly shook my head at him. To be honest, I didn't know how I felt about what happened. I was overwhelmed with everything. I just hoped Banner didn't hate me too much. I would have to go see him later, even if I really didn't want to. _I just want some coffee, _I finally thought. I placed my hands on my hips and sighed.

"Captain, how about I show you around?" Phil eagerly looked at Steve. I totally forgot he was there and quickly moved my eyes to his face. He nodded at Phil with a grin. Phil was ecstatic. He looked like a child in Willy Wonka's chocolate factory. He turned to me, "Emma, would you like to accompany us?" Steve also glanced at me with hope in his eyes.

"Oh, um…you know, maybe next time." I gave a smile. I wasn't prepared to spend the afternoon with Wonder Boy here. "I um, I was going to go… do…something…" I stammered. _That wasn't even convincing, idiot, _I mentally slapped myself. "But you kids have fun!" I coaxed and with that, turned and headed down the hall quickly.


	3. Steven

Thank you for your reviews. I wasn't actually expecting anyone to comment on this, but thank you for your support!

* * *

It had only been a few hours since I left Phil and Captain Rogers on the bridge. I kind of felt like an ass for leaving so suddenly, but I panicked. Besides, I needed to be by myself for a bit. I had gone to my room and dug through my red Nike duffle bag for the one book I packed, Dracula by Bram Stoker. I've read it a million times, but it was still one of my favorites. I then headed to the cafeteria and grabbed a large cup of coffee, one cream and two sugars. From there, I wandered the halls of the ship, trying to find that one spot I discovered my first day here. After completing a couple of turns and stumbling down corridors, I found it.

It was a corner in a hallway with the grey walls and black paneled floors which were too familiar on the ship. It was opened to the second floor, which was really just a walkway that stuck out maybe about four feet from the right wall, protected by silver railings. This walkway had a few doors down the rest of the hall, but it seemed hardly used. What stood out the most was the fact that where the hallway took that left turn, instead of the usually wall was a large window that stretched up to the ceiling, revealing the outside sky. The second story walkway cornered off, ending just before the enormous window pane. The rest of that small passageway was made up of more giant windows. It was a tiny hallway, but it was beautiful.

I was sitting on the second level, back against the corner where the railing met the wall, knees to my chest, and my eyes lost in the book in my hands. I finished up reading the last sentence on the page and leaned my head against the railing, closing my eyes, sighing. I opened them and turned my head to look to the windowed passageway. The outside was a beautiful blue sky, sparse with white fluffy clouds. I could stare out the window all day and would never tire of it.

I heard faint footsteps down the other hall which drew me from my gaze. I straightened my head and leaned a little to peep through the railing. There were two figures heading towards my direction on the first floor. As they got closer I could make them out; one a tall, blonde man in a brown leather jacket; the shorter man in a black business suit whose hair is thin and slicked. I smiled as I saw Phil's grinning face become clearer. I could only imagine what he was talking to Steve about, for Steve's expression wasn't as thrilled as Phil seemed to be. His hands were in his pockets and he was looking at pretty much everything else besides the man next to him. As they got closer I could hear Phil say "It's a vintage set. Took me a couple of years to collect them all. Near mint."

_Oh god, Phil, _I rolled my eyes. Phil had this set of Captain America trading cards that he absolutely loved to show off. He was very proud of it. It was impressive for a vintage trading card set but he loved it too much. Phil loved Captain America too much. I would definitely say that he fan-girled to the extreme over this guy. If we were in high school, he would be that girl who doodled her crushes' name over and over again on her notebook, embroidered with giant red hearts. I let him talk my ear off about the soldier for the last week because he was that excited and I knew how much it meant to him. I was absolutely sick of it but I didn't tell Phil that. I let him go on and on and I would just smile. Now Phil was babbling about Captain America to, well, Captain America.

Steve was nodding his head, looked behind him, and back forward again with his lips pursed. _Oh, poor guy. He's looking for a way out. _I had to say something. "Hey, Phiilllll…" I softly called as I crossed my legs, dangling them over the edge. The two men looked up, clearly surprised.

"So that's where you ran off to" Phil amused.

I flipped my curly hair over my left should as I fumbled to find an excuse, "You know Phil, I, I thought you have that, um, that thing you told me about." Well, it's a start. Phil tilted his head slightly in confusion.

"I don't recall telling you I have a thing." he frowned.

"Oh, you know, that one thing," I was slightly pointing at him and shrugging. "That thing you uh, have… on the bridge or something." His face scrunched even more as he looked up at me. I raised my eyebrows in response and nodded faintly at Steve, hoping he would get the hint.

"Hmmm…no. I don't believe I have a thing today." _Dammit Phil._

I rubbed my cheek as I continued, "Phil, that thing you have. On the bridge. You should go do that. Like now." Phil's expression relaxed as he realized I was trying to save Steve from him. He heaved a sigh.

"You could have just asked. It would have been simpler. Now both of us look like idiots," Phil taunted. "Now if you would excuse me, I have to be on the bridge. I have a thing," he sneered that last bit towards me. Phil then smiled at me then at Steve before turning and walking away. I chuckled as I watched him. I could always count on Phil's sass.

"Thank you." I turned back to Steve who was watching me with a smile on his face. "I couldn't think of a way to nicely ask for him to leave," he shrugged his broad shoulders. I beamed at him.

"No, it's fine. He means well. He…sometimes he gets too excited and forgets that people need their space," I said quietly. Steve smiled again, lingering. He turned to look down the hallway and I saw him bite his lip. I wasn't exactly sure what to do. I started to fidget with the sleeves of my sweater. He turned back looking a little nervous.

"Would you mind if I joined you?" he asked suddenly, his hand reaching to scratch the back of his neck. My eyes widened.

"Oh! Um, sure…" his question taking me completely by surprise. "I uh, I think there's a ladder down the hall…" I trailed off as I watched Steve crouch down a bit, then jump, easily reaching my level. In one swift motion, he grabbed the railing, swung his body over, and sat next to me. "Or that works too…" Steve's chuckle caused me to look at him with disbelief. "I…you just…" I was gawking at him, pointing from him, to the floor and back. I was trying to grasp that he casually hopped up to the second story walkway with no effort. I threw my hands up, "I don't know why I get surprised anymore."

Steve laughed at me, "It seemed easier than finding the ladder down there." My eyes connected with his kind, gorgeous blue ones; shaking my core. My nose filled with his sweet, subtly spicy, cologne. Butterflies suddenly fluttered in my stomach and I went back to playing with my sleeves. "I didn't get a chance before to ask what Director Fury meant about you." And there it is. I sighed and looked down at my hands in my lap. "You don't have to tell me. I was uh, I was just curious," he mumbled.

"Well, I'm a Grade A freak, and that's all you really need to know for now," I snorted. _Shit, was that mean? _"Sorry, I didn't mean for that to sound rude. It's just…I'm weird," I glanced at him apologetically. "I don't want to scare you." It was honest. I normally don't show off my mutant side too much, especially in front of new people. It could be a lot to take in. It wasn't exactly the first impression I wanted to give.

"I don't think you have to worry about that," he gave me a soft smile, his eyes innocent. My insides began to melt. "I've been through a lot of strange," he explained, turning his gaze to the window-wall. I studied his beautiful chiseled cheekbones. I noticed how his hair was a dark blonde at the roots and gradually become a lighter shade as it reached the end. It was perfect. But then his comment about strange brought me to a different feeling; one that was apprehensive. I watched his eyes dance with thoughts.

"So…I'm sorry. I know you've probably gotten this a lot, but, how difficult has it been to adjust to today?" I quietly asked. He shrugged.

"It's different. A lot has changed…" he trailed off. I followed his gaze out the window, unsure of what to say. I hadn't given his situation much attention until this moment. I couldn't imagine being thrown through time like he had. I shifted slightly and uncrossed my legs.

"Well…"I started, "you haven't died yet. So, there's that." He laughed and looked at me with a bright expression. I couldn't help but smile back.

"It's a start," he nodded. "There's some things that haven't changed," he added positively.

"Like what?" I smiled curiously at him.

"Well, there's beautiful dame- ladies! I mean women! Beautiful women like you," he stammered and looked away. My mouth slowly opened in surprise.

"Wait wait wait…did you just call me a dame?" I continued to gape at him in widening amusement. "That's definitely a first for me," and I laughed gently. Dame. Wait. He thought I was beautiful. Holy crap.

"Turns out I'm still nervous to talk to women," he blushed. I stared at him with such dismay and delight. He was actually serious. I couldn't believe it. I bit my lip and covered my mouth with both hands in an attempt to hide my smile. I tried to exhale normally but it came out in airy spurts. I took a deep breath in to steady myself. But I burst out laughing uncontrollably. I was gasping for breath as my cry echoed down the halls. I was so taken aback by that bombshell. I tried to calm myself down but the thought of Steve being afraid to talk to women was just too much. My stomach hurt from laughing.

"I'm- I'm sorry!" I managed to wheeze. I had to stop this, I mean I had tears in my eyes. I inhaled deeply and tried to hold it. I let it out and did it again. I figured I could breathe normally. I wiped the water from my eyes. I turned to Steve whose head was hung low, clearly embarrassed. "Oh I'm sorry! I am. I was laughing completely at you," I giggled. He looked at me sheepishly. I chuckled. Who is this guy? "You know, my life has taken some weird turns. Each time I find myself asking 'how did I even get here?' Like now. Here I am on a flying ship of a government agency, sitting next to a man who has superhuman powers, has punched Nazis in their faces, basically time traveled to the future, is asked to save the world again, and he tells me that he's nervous to talk to women." He snickered at my sentence. "I don't even know how to respond to that. It's not at all what I was expecting."

"What were you expecting?" he questioned me with a raised eyebrow. I looked at him with wonder in my eyes, searching his sincere face. His eyes beamed with curiosity.

"I don't know," I spoke slowly. "I think that I was expecting you to be kind of a douche."

"Oh really!?"

"But you're not! At least, not that I know of yet," I blurted quickly. "I mean, most guys who get any kind of recognition and fame like you have tend to be arrogant and full of themselves. Jerks, essentially. And you're just not."

"Well, now I have to be a jerk, at least towards you. It's the least I could do to repay you for humiliating me," he teased. He was being sarcastic with me. I loved it.

I laughed in response, "Yeah, okay, whatever you say, Steven." _Oh crap, I called him Steven…_ To my surprise he looked like he enjoyed it. It was weird, I had never been this comfortable with anyone I just met. I barely gave nicknames to people, but I just gave one to the guy I started talking to several minutes ago. I couldn't help but take in his genuine, humble aura. We had barely been introduced to each other and I felt like I had known him for my entire life. He hasn't even said anything but my heart told me I could trust him, believe in him with every ounce of life in me. It was so calming. I hadn't realized we were staring at each other until a muffled "In the Mood" by Glenn Miller abruptly interrupted us. "Oh balls, I'm sorry!" I apologized as I tried to grab my phone from my back pocket. I pulled it in front of me. "Holy crap, I get service up here…" I muttered as I stared at the screen. I really hadn't checked my phone since I got on the ship. No one actually contacted me that much, anyway. The iphone screen read BROOKIE with a picture of a pale white, beautiful face that seemed like you could find it on a magazine. Her short pixie cut black hair made her look like Snow White. I don't mean just white, like I thought I was pasty white, but she could be thrown in a snow bank and no one would notice her except for her clothes. I smirked, but declined the call. I would have to call her back later. "I'm sorry. Here we are in the middle of discussing what a jerk you are, and then I'm the one who's being rude," I remarked, trying to be nonchalant, placing my phone behind me. I turned back to Steve who had the biggest grin plastered on his face. I began to laugh, "What?!"

"Glenn Miller?" he sounded like he was accusing me instead of asking me a question. I threw my hands up in protest.

"Yes, Glenn Miller. Glenn Miller is awesome!" His surprised expression continued to gawk at me. "Stop! You can't tell me that you don't like his music!"

"I never said that! I was just taken aback. I definitely wasn't expecting to hear that."

"I love this kind of stuff!" I joyfully exclaimed. "Well, I love all music. But man, older sounds, like Glenn, are my favorite."

"That was released in 1939. It was one of the favorite songs the kids would dance to," he stated. His eyebrows scrunched somewhat as if he were remembering something. I watched his face, still smiling, wanting to ask about other musical interests we might share. Steve tilted his head back to me with a soft smile. His eyes connected with mine. My smile faded as I peered into his sad stare. It hit me. Steve was just a kid. Early twenties, probably not even twenty four. He was probably trying to find a stable career he didn't' think he would hate too much. He was maybe thinking of settling down and having a family. Then a war started. He had Captain America thrown on him. A kid with so much responsibility all the sudden. All the happiness left my being and I felt, well, awful. I was familiar with that situation too well. Steve's faced turned concerned, "What's wrong?"

Shaking my head I replied, "It's nothing. I um…never mind." I gave him a small smile.

"Emma, you can't tell me it's nothing. You were happy and then suddenly you weren't. What's wrong?" he begged. He actually cared. He actually wanted to hear my problems. He wanted to listen to me. I was filled with empathy. I stared at Steve with wonder.

"It's just…you." His expression puzzled. I hesitated. I wasn't sure how to explain my thoughts. "I mean, this," waving my hands at him, "Captain America. How did you get to this point? Like, what made you decide you wanted this?"

He face softened as he exhaled deeply. "I guess I always wanted to do something with my life. I felt I could do something great if I was given the chance. I was offered to be a test subject for this," he pointed to himself, "when I finally got into the army."

I put my hand up to stop him, "Wait. When you finally got into the army?"

"Fifth time's a charm," he smirked. I must've had a disbelief look because he shrugged and explained, "I had to try five times to get into the army. I even used different names and hometowns. I was never accepted because I was pretty sick."

"Shut up."

"I'm serious! I had asthma, I was skinny. And short. Dr. Erskine had found me and got me into the army. He's the one who created the serum and said that he wanted me to test it out. So I did."

"And then the whole Captain America campaign happened?"

He looked a little embarrassed, "Yeah that uh, wasn't what I had in mind when I agreed to this. But it got me to where I needed to be."

"You know, Phil showed me some of your propaganda stuff. Like the uh, promotional video about war bonds? I have to admit, I'm not sure who I was more impressed with, you or your chorus girls," I sneered. Steve laughed.

"I, I don't have a good explanation for that. But like I said, it eventually got me to where I wanted to be. I mean, I saved the world from Nazis." I couldn't help but giggle. "I like knowing that I made a difference and I can still help out," his tone was earnest. I admired him. "What about you?"

"What about me?"

"How did you get here?"

"Oh, that," I was kind of hoping he would forget about this. I took a deep breath in. "Well, it's not as simple as a serum injection. It's a change in my DNA for whatever reason," I stated gradually. I fidgeted with my sleeves again. "No one really knows why it happens, it just does. I got very sick before it happened. I thought I caught the flu and was out for about two weeks. I woke up one day, feeling completely normal. Then weird things started happening," I looked at Steve who was completely confused. "Oh, I guess I should've started out by saying that I'm a mutant."

"A mutant?" he asked.

"Yeah, you know, someone who is different. There's thousands of us, all able to do something different. I mean abilities, powers. Kind of like how you're superhuman. It's like a different version," I began. He nodded for me to go on. "It sounds totally made up, but it's true. Trust me."

"No, I do. I trust you."

I smiled at his tender words. "For me, I um, I am able to control water." I looked at him, waiting for a response. He just raised his eyebrows in question. I bit my lip. I wasn't sure how to go about this, especially since I was nervous. Just then I remembered I still had some coffee in the mug behind me. I twisted to reach behind me, grabbed the mug, and took the cap off. I shifted so my body was facing Steve. I just looked at the cup in my hands. I moved my eyes to look at him, who returned my gaze with an encouraging expression. "Okay. I'm going to show you. Just don't freak out too much."

"I promise."

"Okay… We'll start with little things. Like this coffee. Since coffee is like 98% water, I can easily control it…" I held the mug in my left hand and hovered my right on the side of it. With a little thought, the coffee in the bottom of the cup slowly began swirling, as if and invisible person was stirring it. Casually, it lifted out of the cup in a steady stream. The liquid formed into a flowing ball as I opened my palm underneath it. I looked uncertainly at Steve who was in awe. He reached his hand up to touch it.

"You're doing this?" he was amazed as the coffee scattered from his finger.

"Yeah…" I directed the liquid back into the mug. I set it back against the wall.

"That, that was absolutely remarkable! Wow!" he marveled. He looked at me like I had just told him he won the lottery. He was so overjoyed that it made me snicker.

"You're not too weirded out, are you?"

"Are you kidding? That was awesome! So you can do that with anything water?"

"More or less, yes. I can do a lot more too," I replied.

"Like what?"

"Well, the reason I'm here is that I can kind of control people. And so I'm here to keep an eye on Dr. Banner," I wasn't too thrilled about saying that. I think my face showed it because Steve placed his hand on mine and gave me a sympathetic smile.

"Don't worry about it. You have an amazing gift. I'm speechless," he beamed. He accepted me. I was ecstatic. My heart fluttered in my chest. I was just too happy. And I wanted to show him more. I stared into his blue eyes. I watched his face turn to shock and he looked down at our hands. Mine had turned into a watery form and his slipped right through it. I laughed at his face. He looked at me completely astonished. But he started laughing too. "That's great! You're amazing!" he exclaimed. I reached my hand up and turned it back to my solid skin.

"That's kind of what Director Fury meant before," I explained. "I'm glad that you're excited about it." He grinned at me. I was content. It made me hopeful that maybe we were on our way to being good friends.

"Thank you for showing me. That wasn't like anything I've ever seen. But it's wonderful. It is," he chimed. He looked over his shoulder to look at the coffee mug. "Oh! I didn't realize I interrupted you." He extended his arm and brought back my book. He gently handed it to me.

"I kind of forgot about it," I joked. "Don't worry about. I've read it a million times."

"Dracula. I love this book. But I will let you get back to it. I have some things I wanted to do yet. I'll see you later?" he asked hopefully.

"Yeah! Of course. I'll be around. Or rather, I'll either be here or in my room most likely, if you need to find me," I smiled. He smiled back. And with that, Steve stood up, grabbed the railing, and jumped gracefully over it. He landed on the first floor, grinned up at me and then headed down the hall. I watched him go with a big stupid smile on my face. I brought my knees up to my chest and hugged myself. I haven't been this happy in a while. Who is this guy? He's too good to be true.


	4. Bruce

Thank you for your reviews! I know I'm not an expert in grammar, but I definitely try to write correctly. I've been getting pretty positive things about the story, so thanks for your support!

* * *

I finally made the decision to go see Dr. Banner. It couldn't be that bad, right? All I wanted was for him to not hate me _that_ much. I really didn't want to be deemed as his babysitter. Lord knows, he's a grown man and a renowned scientist; I think he can take care of himself. I mean, who knows? My encounter with Captain America wasn't at all what I thought it would be. I could be wrong, but I got the impression that Wonder Boy and I were going to be friends. Maybe Dr. Banner would be a similar situation. Anything could happen.

As I neared the lab, my body told my brain that it was nervous: my legs shaking like j-ello with every step, my stomach tying into knots, palms sweating, and my heart beating fiercely. But I trekked on in my high heeled boots. I tugged at the deep red sleeves of my sweater with my hands, hoping to dry them up a little.

I was close enough now to see a shaggy haired man through the many windows looking into the lab. I inhaled deeply as I neared the door, preparing to knock. But as I lifted my fist, the windowed door slid open. _Ope, okay then. _Hesitantly, I tapped on the side and took a step into the lab. The neatly groomed, dark haired head casually glanced over to me. I gave a weak smile taking a few more steps in. "Is this the part when you check up on me to see if I broke anything?" his cold tone inquired. He hunched over his desk. My face dropped, disheartened. I really shouldn't have expected anything other than his disapproval.

"No," I quietly replied. His curious brown eyes looked up through glasses. I crossed my arms over my stomach and glanced around the room. Everything was an off white and filled with various equipment and work benches. I saw two flat, transparent screens that hung from the ceiling. I desperately wanted to play with them, but figured that would have to wait. "I, um… I'm not here to look after you. Well, I am, but not really…" I stammered. Dr. Banner raised an eyebrow pulling his glasses off. I sighed. I spoke slowly, "Look. I don't want you to think that I'm here to hurt you. That's the last thing I want to do."

"I think you should be worrying about _me_ hurting _you_, not the other way around," he murmured. "Didn't Fury say that you're here to make sure the other guy is controlled?" _He really isn't going to make this easy, is he? _His tone made me sad. I looked away from his gaze and focused through the windows, overlooking the hangar below.

"Fury is more or less concerned about his toys getting broken," I muttered, casually scanning the room. _The other guy? Who is…? _I laid my eyes back on him, "Is that what you call him? The other guy?"

He hesitated for a minute before he softly spoke, "His name is Hulk. But yes, the _other guy_." I bit the corner of my lip trying not to, but ended up smiling at him. "What?"

"That's…kind of cute," I shrugged. "That's not the right word for it, but it is. It is cute. And no, I don't think the 'other guy' needs my supervision. I think he's fine with you." It felt weird to say. Up until now, I hadn't actually paid attention that Dr. Banner was two separate persons: Bruce Banner and the Hulk. It made sense, I guess.

Dr. Banner's perplexed expression suggested that he wasn't expecting those words. I saw his hands were in front of him, fiddling with a pen. "What happens when he's not fine and he comes out? I don't know what you know about me, but I'm bit of a monster," he hissed. I kept my gaze on him intently. _I'm a bit of a monster. _What a load of crap. There was nothing about his being that screamed 'monster'.

"But you're not." Dr. Banner stared. I continued calmly, "I've met monsters. I know monsters. Some of them are really awful. I know we've just met, but I know that you're nothing like them. If anything, you're a big teddy bear." I felt myself blush. I wasn't sure why that came out, but it did.

It was true. He was clearly trying to protect everyone else from himself, like he was a time bomb, waiting, and he was going to try to shield the world from his explosion. He was running away from everyone and everything, even trying to run from himself, because no one understood. But lucky for him, I used to be in that boat. I ran away until the X-Men gave me a home and taught me that sometimes people are weird and that's okay. I'm not saying that I'm completely comfortable around 'normal' people enough to use my abilities, but around other mutants, I'm fine. I have people I can trust. That's what Dr. Banner needs; some weird people in his life.

"Did anyone tell you about me, Dr. Banner?" I asked, lowering my arms.

"Please, you can call me Bruce," he serenely said, gesturing his hand towards me. Hope flooded my body. I smiled gently at him. "Natasha told me they call you Vapor, but that was it." He walked around his desk so he wasn't hiding behind anything. He was still playing with the pen in his hands. I figured he changed his mind about me, maybe not by much, but enough to show me that he was curious to learn more.

"You would like to know why I'm known as Vapor? You can call me that too, by the way, Vapor. Or Emma. Or 'Hey you!' works too," I smirked. Bruce chuckled at that. He slightly nodded, cautious of what was about to happen. I put my hands up carefully, as if in defense and slowly said, "I'm not going to do anything but to myself, okay? I'm not going to, you know, whatever. You're fine, okay?"

"Alright," he nodded, leaning back on the desk.

I took a deep breath in, "Okay, just watch my hands…" I outstretched my arms, palms upward. I watched as they turned transparent with rippling water, sleeves and all. Bruce walked closer to me, fascinated by what he was seeing. He stopped just in front of my arms. I was a bit taller than him, maybe by an inch, with these boots on anyway. I noticed flecks of silver that dotted his dark chocolate hair.

"May I?" he questioned. I moved my head up and down. With that, Bruce slowly touched one of my hands, his fingers moving through it, causing a small wrinkle to pass through the rest of the liquid. I watched his coffee eyes shine with awe as he examined me. "Are you able to do this with your whole body?"

"Yes." I let the water travel upwards, transforming my shoulders. The alteration slid across my exposed collar bones and down my chest, proving myself. Bruce was circling me, inspecting me.

"And you're able to, um, turn it on or off at your will?"

I shrugged, "Yeah, pretty much." With that, I 'turned off' the effect and my body went back to being solid flesh and clothes. I dropped my arms to my side, feeling a lot more comfortable.

"Huh…" he murmured as he came to a halt in front of me. I was feeling optimistic. I think he understood that I was showing him he was going to be okay around me, and I around him.

"We're all a little weird here," I chuckled, "So, there's that."

Bruce smiled, "I guess there's a lot for me to learn." He rubbed the nape of his neck as he said in a guilty tone, "I'm sorry, about before. It was mean."

"Don't worry about it," I confirmed, "I've had worst. But I completely understand. It can be frustrating." I smiled at Bruce reassuringly. This was good. As far as I could tell, I wasn't a threat to him anymore. Let's be honest, no one really wants a giant green rage man to see you as the enemy. So yes, this is good.

We stood there kind of awkwardly. Neither of us quite sure what to do now. Bruce spoke softly, "I should probably get back to working on finding the Tesseract. Do you know anything about that?"

I sighed, "Not a lot. All I know is that it emits its own energy. And for some reason this guy, Loki, took it." It was honest. I only knew that much from what Phil told me. "So other than that, petty much nothing. Well, besides that you're here to find it for SHIELD."

Bruce gave a short laugh. "Then you know something about it. You wouldn't happen to know anything about gamma radiation?" he inquired earnestly, walking over to a workbench. On it was a large, gold circular disk. Next to it was a small silver orb, along with some other tools. I wasn't even going to bother asking how that worked.

"Not really, no," I remarked, turning towards him. "I can usually follow along if you kind of dumb it down. My brother knows a lot about this stuff. He's the smart one in the family. I know that doesn't help you at all," I rambled on, becoming a little embarrassed. Bruce looked at me amused. I shrugged, "If it was microbiology though, I could maybe help."

"You're into microbiology?" his raised eyebrows in question.

"Only a little. Mostly things like diseases and their treatments," I quietly answered, gripping my upper arm. I looked at him and bit my lip. His face was full of surprise. "I'm um, a surgical technician. So it's kind of important to know these things."

"Huh. I would consider that to be smart. So you like helping people?" he was fiddling with some equipment.

"Eh, more or less, I suppose. I really enjoy the human body and seeing how everything works," I confessed. Bruce beamed at me. I returned it, feeling my cheeks blush a little. He looked down at the objects on the table and exhaled heavily. His lips pursed and he turned his head to the desk on the other side of the room.

"Well…" he started walking past me, "if you would like, you can possibly help me." He picked up his glasses from the workbench and looked at me. My mouth fell slightly open as one of my eyebrows raised. He grinned, "I can 'dumb it down' so you can follow."

"Um…yeah, sure!" I exclaimed, lifting my hands up. I was excited. I just got asked to work with Doctor Bruce freaking Banner. This was so much better than being his babysitter.

Over the next few hours, Bruce and I talked about pretty much everything. He explained some of his work on gamma radiation and how he was trying to find the Tesseract. He showed me how to work the computers and what things meant what. I sat at the desk with him, watching him tinker with the various equipment. If something came up on the screen, I would tell him. I was basically useless, but I enjoyed being there with him and he didn't seem to mind me. He asked me about my mutant abilities and he, reluctantly, told me about Hulk. It was nice.

I hadn't realized how much time had passed until a growl bellowed from my stomach. I gently wrapped my arms around my waist, hanging my head in embarrassment. Bruce snorted at me, "You know, you don't have to stay in here."

"I know," I bleated, glancing at him. He set his glasses on the desk and rubbed the bridge of his nose. He was exhausted. "You don't have to stay in here either," I softly chimed.

"I want to get my work done quickly so I can leave. That requires me to stay in here mostly," he sounded slightly annoyed. He exhaled and looked at me. "Go. Eat something, get some rest."

I didn't want to leave him, but I did need food. "What about you? You're allowed to take a break. Come get foodstuffs with me," I offered hopefully.

"I'm fine. But you go. I'll be fine."

I sadly looked at him. I felt guilty for leaving him here, but I figured he wasn't going to budge. "Well, can I get you something then? Coffee? Tea? A sandwich? Fruit?"

"No, it's, it's fine," he was playing with his glasses. I smirked, recognizing that as a 'Yes, I would like you to bring me something but I feel bad asking you to do so' expression.

"I'll find you something," I uttered as I stood up. Bruce gazed up at me ready to argue, but I interjected "You need to eat something. I'll bring you back some stuff and whether you choose to eat or not is up to you, okay?" I could see he wanted to say something, but he knew I was right. He simply nodded. I smiled at him before walking across the room and out the door.

As I made my way through the halls, I pulled out my phone from my jeans pocket. It was late and I had completely forgot to call my friend, Brooke. Oh well, I'll have to call her tomorrow sometime. My boots suddenly weighed more and my whole body felt heavy. I had been so busy that I ignored my fatigue. I made a plan to quick grab something to eat, bring Bruce some food, and head off to bed. Today had been a long one. I sighed, running my fingers through my hair. I placed my phone back in my pocket.

My pace was slow. I stuck close to the wall as I walked, watching agents pass me by; they all had some place to go, it seemed. They were all in standardized SHIELD uniforms; dark blue shirts and matching pants or skirts and black boots. As I thought about it, I realized that there were very few people I've seen who didn't have to wear the same attire. Director Fury had his black trench coat, Phil always wore a suit and tie, Clint had his own uniform with his black and purple vest, and Natasha with her black body suit. The X-Men had their own uniforms too, and I brought mine along just in case. Mine was different, custom made with my designs. I could fight in regular clothes but wearing the outfit made me feel like a badass. _I wonder if I asked if I would get a SHIELD uniform…_

I was debating whether or not I actually wanted a SHIELD outfit. I mean, on one hand I would have to officially agree to be an agent but on the other, I would look cool. Huh. I'll have to think about it over food. "Emma!" a man's voice called. I blinked, coming into focus with reality. I turned my head to my left, looking down the passageway. I smiled as I recognized Steve's brown leather jacket and his slicked blonde hair. He started to jog towards me. "Hey, I was looking for you earlier. I couldn't find you," he said.

"Oh, yeah. I was actually with Dr. Banner in his lab. Sorry," I apologized.

"Don't be. How was your visit with him? He hadn't seem that fond of you when we first met."

I smirked, "Yeah, I remember. But no, it went really well. I think he's changed his mind about me. I was actually on my way to get something to eat and then bring something back for Bruce." I glanced up at him with hopeful eyes. He was tall. My eyes met with his nose. _Man, Imma feel short without these boots._

"Would you like some company?" he offered nervously. I felt my cheeks flush with heat and butterflies roared in my gut. I swallowed what I thought was rather loudly.

"I would love some," I finally sputtered. He smiled at me. We continued to walk down the hall. I felt like an idiot. I was so anxious around him, but he made me feel calm and comfortable at the same time. _Oh crap, you like him. You just met him. You can't like him. _

I mentally fought with myself. This was stupid, I mean, I had ONE conversation with this handsome guy and we talked about nothing. _But it was about a wonderful nothing. Oh my god, shut up sensitive me! Jeeze, it's cold in here… _The goose bumps forming on my arms distracted me from silent conversation. My sweater was pretty thin and it definitely didn't help that I was tired and nervous. I wrapped my arms around my stomach. Steve must have noticed because he asked, "Are you cold? Would you like my jacket?"

"Oh, no! I'm fine, really," I tried to protest but he already pulled off his jacket, holding it open for me. I stared at him, unsure of what to do. He raised an eyebrow at me and gently shook the leather jacket he held.

"Your arms go into the sleeves, you know," he sneered.

"Oh my god, Steven! I know how this works," I blurted. Reluctantly I let my arms slip into the sleeves and hugged the jacket close. It was warm and smelled of leather and Steve's cologne. It was magnificent.

"See? That wasn't that hard," he teased and put his hands in his pants' pockets. I placed my hand on my face, embarrassed.

"Oh, shut up," I replied playfully. "Thank you." He looked at me and nodded. We kept walking. Steven was such a gentleman. It was refreshing. And I felt a ton better with his jacket on.

"So," Steve started, "what did you and Dr. Banner talk about?"

I shrugged. "A lot, I guess. He showed me how to work some of the equipment," I added a little joyous.

"Oh! Well that's good. Any news on the Tesseract?"

"Um, no. Not really. He said it might take a while."

"Hm. At least it's a start." His face was tense with thought. I studied his furrowed eyebrows. He turned to me, his expression relaxing, "We'll know something when it comes up," his words were with filled with hope. I nodded and smiled at his bright eyes.

"Yes, we will…" I trailed off and looked ahead of me. The thought of finding the cube began to race in my head. When would we find it? And what will happen when we do? Loki isn't going to just hand it over. And what about Clint? Where is he? I hope he's okay. What happens to everyone here? What happens to me? Do I just go home after this? I tightened my arms around me. I became uneasy. I worried about Clint and what would happen to him when he gets back. And the thought of me going home after all this seemed…gloomy. _Maybe I'll move back to the mansion…_

"Emma?" Steve softly interjected my thoughts. I looked at him, surprised.

"I, I'm sorry, Steve. I got lost for a minute," I muttered. I gave him a small smile.

"Is everything alright?"

"Yeah. I'm just thinking. That's all," I droned a little more aloof than I should have. Steve looked at me with slight concern on his face. "Really, I'm fine." His expression didn't back down. I hesitated. I didn't want to burden him with my problems. But he was willing to listen and it might make me feel less insecure about everything, getting it off my chest. "It's just… Clint, err, Agent Barton, is a good friend of mine. He's always there for me… And now he's gone and I feel so useless cuz I can't do anything about it. I don't even know where to start looking for him and neither does SHIELD… And then what happens after all of this?" I was discouraged. Talking about it actually made it worse. Saying it out loud made my issues become more realistic. Like somehow just replaying it in my head wasn't as solid as it was once it left my mouth.

Steve looked puzzled, "What do you mean by that?"  
"What happens if this whole thing turns out awful and everything goes to crap? Do I just go to my empty apartment and pretend none of this happened? I mean, I'm technically only here to keep an eye on Bruce. When he finds the cube, he and I are free to go. That's it. What if I go home and I'm watching the news or something and everything is blowing up?"

"Hey, slow down," Steve begged, stepping in front of me and gently grabbed my arms. "We have to hope everything is going to be fine. We'll get it right. We'll get Agent Barton back and the cube, you'll see. Everything is going to be okay." His eyes shone as he reassured me. I managed a small smile even though I was still troubled. "You don't have to leave right away, do you?"

I looked at him, trying to figure out what he was getting at. "Well, no. I don't think so."

He let go of me and shrugged, "Then you can stay as long as you like." I couldn't help but chortle. I guess he was right. "That way you can help when things start to blow up." He smiled and I laughed. "Come on, if we keep stalling we're never going to reach the cafeteria." I was so delighted by his words. I followed his lead and we kept walking.

"Thank you," I mumbled. Steve grinned. I was grateful for him being there; he calmed me down. "I can over think things. Especially when I'm worried. So thanks. Really…"

He looked warmly at me. "I mean it, everything is going to be fine. Over thinking isn't always a bad thing. Sometimes it can bring you an answer you weren't expecting to find… You're not exactly worried about the world blowing up, are you?"

My eyes widened as I frantically scanned his face. There was no way he should have known I meant something else. I didn't say anything. "What do you mean?" I stuttered.

"When you said your 'empty apartment', you enunciated 'empty', like you held a grudge against it," Steve replied as-matter-of-factly. "Why don't you want to go home?"

I stared at him, shocked. "I… I didn't realize I said it like that… You actually picked up on that?" He nodded rather proudly. I shook my head, amazed. _I wonder if I mentioned anything else I didn't say aloud…_ "Um…well, to be honest my apartment is pretty lonely," I stared a head of me. "I don't exactly have friends in Albany. I mean, I have a few coworkers I don't mind seeing. And the X-mansion is like an hour away. But it's just me. Most of the time it's fine; I like being alone, but lately I wish someone was there with me." My cheeks heated. It was a little embarrassing admitting I was lonely. I felt Steve looking at me, but I kept my gaze straight.

He cleared his throat. "I uh, I'm living in Brooklyn. I'm usually free. So um, if you're not busy sometime, you could always come down for the day or something. You know, if you wouldn't mind or anything," he stumbled and placed his hands in his pants pockets. The butterflies in my gut turned into a hurricane and I felt my face grow warmer; I was sure I was tomato red. I bit my lower lip. I think he technically asked me out. Or, well, for a future date. Possibly. Maybe. Oh I don't know!

"Uh, yeah! That would be great actually," came from my mouth nearly as a whisper. I was frazzled. But happy. "I, um, don't really know my way around Brooklyn, so it'll be an adventure," I tried masking my school-girl-vibe.

"Then you should definitely stop by for a visit. I'll have to show you around. Although a lot has changed, so I'm not too sure where everything is anymore. I guess it'll be an adventure for me as well," he optimistically admitted.

"Excellent. It'll be fun," I added. We both smiled at each other. His blue eyes were beautiful; I wanted to stare into them for the rest of the night. I didn't care about eating anymore. I merely wanted to soak in Steve's aura.

"Captain Rogers!" I was startled by the booming voice of Director Fury. Steve and I broke our gaze and turned to look behind us. Nick Fury and Phil were walking quickly towards us. "Captain, we got a hit on Loki."

"Where is he?" Steve asked, crossing his arms across his chest. I turned back to Fury.

"He's in Stuttgart, Germany," Phil interjected. I looked at him. _Loki… That means Clint._

"Captain, you're up," Fury addressed Steve, who sternly nodded once. He gave me a weak smile. I barely noticed.

"Director," my voice was weak.

"Miss Blaser, the answer is no," Fury firmly said. Before I could say anything he continued, "We had an agreement, Miss Blaser. I know you want to help Agent Barton, and you can help by staying here." He didn't even look at me.

"But Director!" I was desperate.

"I said no, Miss Blaser! You are to remain on the ship. That is an order." His words hit me like a bullet. I turned to Phil, who returned my gaze with a sympathetic face, his eyes full of regret. My shoulders slumped, defeated. I wanted to go, I wanted to bring Clint back. "Captain, we'll depart as soon as you're ready." Director Fury turned and walked the way he came. Phil gave me a sad glance one more time before following Fury. I stared at the two men leaving. I felt like crap. _I'm just the babysitter._

I jumped slightly when Steve touched my arm. I gazed up at him, a little dismayed. "It's going to be okay," he softly spoke. He smiled, then turned and followed Director Fury and Agent Coulson. I stood in place and watched the men walk down the hall, until they disappeared.

Blinking, I tried shaking off the emptiness. I turned around and hurried to the cafeteria. I scanned everything without really noticing it. Absently, I filled a bowl with strawberries and pineapple, another with blueberries and raspberries, grabbed a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and a small container of yogurt from a cooler, and got a large black coffee.

Somehow I made it back to Dr. Banner's lab. I set down the coffee, yogurt, sandwich, and the bowl with blueberries and raspberries on a fairly empty desk. "Emma, are you alright?" Bruce asked gently. I stared at him for a second, before remembering who he was. I blinked down at the floor.

"Yeah. I um...just tired." He nodded slightly, looking concerned. I smiled weakly and headed out the door with my strawberries and pineapple. I mindlessly traveled the halls, making it to my room. I entered the small space, locked the door behind me, set the bowl on the dresser and fell on the bed. I kicked off my boots and wrapped the blankets around me. I laid there hugging my pillow.


End file.
